Seining apparatus



July 2, 1929. a c, $M|TH 1.719.202

smmm APPARATUS Filed Sept. "22, 192.6 .2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

July 2, 1929. c. T. SMITH SEINiNG APPARATUS Filed Sept. 22, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 2, 19239.

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CHARLES T. SMITH, OF STEVENSON; WASHINGTDN.

surmise APPARATUS.

Application filed September 22, 1926. Serial No. 136,949.

This invention relates generally to the art of seining in which nets are draggedover the button of waterways for the purpose of surrounding and catching such fish as may licin the path of the seine.

The main object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for handling a seine which will entirely eliminate the hand loading of nets on to the scows.

The second object is to reduce the number of men required to handle a given size of seine from an average of nineteen men to thirteecn men.

The third object is to shorten the time re quired to lay out or haul in a seine by about one third of the time ordinarily required by what is known as horse seining methods.

These, and other objects, will become more apparent from the specification following as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a special form of seine handling scow showing the apparatus required for the handling of the seine. Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a somewhatdiagrammatic plan showing some of the various stages throughwhich the apparatus must pass to complete a seining operation.

Similar numbers of reference refer to-the same parts throughout the several views.

Referring in detail to the drawing, there is illustrated an ordinary scow on whose deck 11 are mounted four elements which go to make up the seine handling apparatus, namely guide posts for the seine a seine handling winch, the power unit and a drum aligning mechanism.

The guide posts 12 are upright vertical members positioned at one end of the deck 11, and preferably curved on their inner faces 13 to insure a smooth handling of the seine. It is preferable to provide these posts with braces 14- to insure sutlicient rigidity.

The seine handlin unit consists of a plurality of standards 15 and 16 across which journals a shaft 17 on which is secured a large seine handling drum 18 provided with side flanges 19. Ont-he shaft 17 is secured. a large gear 20 which meshes with the pinion 21 on the countershaft 22 which journals in the brackets 23 projecting from the sides of the standards 16. (in the countershaft 22 is also placed a. friction clutch 24 whose controlling lever 25 is hinged to a bracket 23 by means of a link 26. 0'11 the shaft 22 is also placed a sprocket wheel 27 whose chain 28 passes over the sprocket pinion 29 on the shaft 30 of the tached thereto andwhose shaft journals in the bearings 36 of the standards 37 A bridle 88 passes several times around the drum 3% andthen around the sheaves 39, which are made fast tothe forward corners of the scow by means of the brackets 4110 and the ends of the bridle filSterminate in a single line ll by i'neans of which the scow is held or towed.

In order to illustrate the operation of this device there is shown a representative form of fishing ground between the banks 42 and 43 of a. stream i l whose current flow is as indicated by the arrow 45. There is also indicated a towing launch 46, a smaller launch 47 for taking the line ashore at the commencement of the operation, and teams 48, 49 and 50. The mouth of the river 51 and the projecting neck of land indicate the fishing limits in which this device is being operated. A. seine 53 with a bridle 54; and a line 55 for taking the seine ashore are also indicated. A chain 56 cm- .ploycd for landing the seine is also indicated.

The actual. operation is as follows: When coini'ncncing to fish the small launch ll lakes hold of the line 55 and takes it to the team l8 which is well out in the water. The launch 47 now cuts loose from the line and the launch 46 begins to follow a course described by the dotted curved line 57, while at the same time it is paying out the seine, under the control of the clutch 24. The team 48 is also being driven down stream and the seine now takes the position shown as 53A.

In order to prevent the wine from being dragged too severely against one or the other of the. posts l2 the scow is swung around un der the control of the hand wheel 33, until there is a uniform and minimum amount of rubbing on the posts.

As the launch 46 approaches a point almost opposite the end of the fishing ground, namely the neck 52, it is turned toward the shore and the line 41 is now turned over to the team 50 whose principal function is holding the scow during the hauling in of the seine.

During this closing-in process a team is driven. out into the water behind the scow and takes hold of the seine, as do the teams 48 and L9, and the drum on the scow is released so that the seine may be pulled toward the shore and the scow taken out of the way and preferably held by an anchor. About three holds are usually taken on the seine back of the scow during the landing of the catch. It is plain that if this were not done it wou-ld be impossible to land the catch since the drum would hold the. seine high enough to allow the fish to escape under the seine, which is not the case when the head or drum end of the seine is hauled ashore by means of the teams.

Naturally the number of teams employed at either end of the seine will vary, depending upon the strength of the team, skill of the drivers, the nature of the beaches, current, size of catch, etc, and it is therefore not the intention to convey the idea that'th'e abovedesc'ribed operation is the precise manner in which it must be performed, or the only manner in which it can be accomplished, as it well understood by anyone familiar with the fishing art.

t must also be understood that the fishing grounds themselves vary greatly as to ground,

slope of beach, length of ground, width of stream, and other factors beyond the control of the fisherman, and that the above-described operation merely illustrates one manner in which this device can be employed rather than as being the manner in which it must always be employed, the invention residing in the special formof seine-handling scow and in the special means for insuring its unil'orm winding and unwinding from the drum.

I claim:

A seining apparatus having in combination a scow, a seine handling drum mounted on said scow adapted to handle a seine over the stern of said scow, power means for rotating said drum, a clutch between said power means and drum, upright guide posts on the stern corners of said scow for narrowing the seine in a manner to allow same to wind on said drum and means 'fortowing sa (1 scow including means for aligning said drum with relation to the seine being wound thereon.

CHARLES T. SMITH. 

